Cloth beam clutch



W. H. BAP-{AN Dec. 24, 1940.

CLOTH BEAM CLUTCH Filed Nov. 5. 1939 Snmntm: VVILLIRM H. BAH/1N (TttorncPatented Dec. 24, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to a loom attachment and more especially to acloth beam clutch. Most looms are equipped with cloth rolls upon whichthe cloth is wound as it is woven by the loom. This cloth roll is drivenby means of a sand roll through peripheral contact and the sand roll hasthe wovencloth passing over a portion of its periphery prior to beingwound upon the cloth roll. As the roll of cloth becomes larger, its axismoves away from the sand roll axis against the pressure exerted by asuitable'torsion spring. When the desired size has been attained thepressure of the spring is released so that the cloth roll can be dofied.It is then necessary to place a rod in the position previously occupiedby the cloth roll to constitute an axis around which the next cloth rollis formed, which rod is pressed into engagement with the sand roll by amanually operated winding mechanism. Heretofore, great difficulty hasbeen experienced in applying the proper initial pressure between thenewly inserted rod and the sand roll. If too much initial pressure isex-,

erted, then portions of the restraining mechanism will likely breakbefore the roll of cloth is completed, because as has been stated, thetorsion spring is a portion of the restraining mechanism, and as theroll grows larger, the pressure between the sand roll and the cloth rollwill remain substantially the same with a slight variation.

It is therefore an object of this invention to pro-.

vide a slip clutch in the cloth beam supporting mechanism which willprevent an excessive amount of initial pressure from being exertedbetween the sand roll and the cloth roll.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an apparatus of theclass described with means for varying the pressure limits at which theslip clutch arrangement will operate.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objectswill appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection withthe accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of aloom showing my attachment applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse sectional detail View taken along theline 2-2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional detail view taken along the line 33in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a plan View taken along the line 4-4 in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 5-5 in Figure1.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral l denotessuitable end frames which are joined together at their upper ends by abreast beam II, and at their lower ends by a strut l2. Rotatably mountedin the upper portion of the frame assembly is a sand roll I4 aroundwhich a sheet of cloth I is adapted to be moved after it has been wovenby th loom. This sand roll is driven by suitable mechanism notsh'own,.but the rate of travel of this roll is substantially the same asthe rate of weaving of cloth. As has been stated, the cloth l5 passesaround aportion of the periphery of the sand roll I5,from whence it iswound onto a cloth roll [8 which roll has as an-axis of rotation, a, rod[9. The cloth roll is driven by peripheral contact with the sand rollandis held in engagement with th same by a suitable mechanism which willbe presently described.

The ends of the rod I9 are rotatably mounted in the upper ends ofvertically disposed racks 20, said racks being slidably mounted in guidemembers 2|, and these guide members 2| have their upper and lower endssecured to members I I and I2,

respectively. The rack members are adapted to have their teeth mesh withpinions 23 on shaft 24, which shaft is rotatably mounted in the lowerportion of guide members 2|.

An intermediate portion of shaft 24 has a collar 25 secured thereon bymeansof a set screw 26, said collar having a pin 21 extending from itsperiphcry .to which one end of a torsion spring 28 is secured.Thistorsion spring is disposed around shaft 24 and its other end issecured to another pin 29, which extends from the periphery of thecollar 30. Collar 30 encircles the hubs 3| and 32 of gear segments 33and 34 respectively. These hubs and gear segments are placed together toform a completed gear, and it is by means of this collar 30 that the twosegments are rotatably clamped in position around the shaft 24.

In order to vary the amount of pressure exerted between the collar, andthe gear segments, the ends of the collar 30 have a bolt 35 securingthem together with nuts 36, 31, and 38 threadably secured thereon foradjustment purposes. By adjusting the nuts 36, 31 and 38, the frictionthat exists between the hubs 3| and 32 and the inner periphery of thecollar 30 can be varied to set the limit at which the slipping actionwill take place between the collar and the hubs. This is an importantfeature because when this slipping takes place during the positioning ofthe rod [9 against the sand roll at the beginning of a cloth roll, thenthe proper amount of pressure has been exerted.

The gear or pinion which comprises segments 33 and 34 is adapted to meshwith a worm 40 therebelow, which worm is fixedly secured around a shaft4|. The shaft 4| has its intermediate portion rotatably mounted inbracket 42, said bracket being supported by means of strut l2. On theother end of the shaft 4|, a handle 43 is pivoted as at 44, so that whenit is desired to raise or lower the rod l9, relative to the sand rolll4, it is only necessary to turn this handle. It will be noted byreferring to Figures 1 and 4 that the shaft 24 also has a bearing 41therearound at a point adjacent the right hand face of the gear which ismade from segments 33 and 34. This bearing is secured to bracket 42 andserves to prevent the spring 28 from pushing the gear segments 33 and 34longitudinally of the shaft 24.

It is therefore seen that when it is desired to place a rod l9 againstthe lower periphery of the sand roll to form an axis around which a newroll of cloth is to be wound, that the racks 20 must be lowered untilthe upper ends thereof are disposed about the same level as notches 2la.Then the ends of rod l9 are placed in the upper ends of the rack members20 after which the handle 43 is turned until the pinions 23 advance theracks and the rod against the lower periphery of the sand roll l4. Ofcourse, it is necessary to start the ends of the cloth around the rod I9before operation of the loom is begun. When the proper pressure betweenthe sand roll l4 and the rod l9 has been exerted, a slippage will takeplace between the hubs 3| and 32 and the collar 30, thereby preventingan excessive amount of initial pressure from being exerted and alsopreventing any subsequent breakage of the parts, such as the teeth inthe gear segments 33 and 34.

When the-'proper initial pressure has been exerated between the rod I9and the sand roll M, the cloth roll I8 is then begun. As its diameterincreases, the rod l9 and its associated racks 20 move downwardly, andat the same time the pin ion 23 and shaft 24 will rotate against theresistance of spring 28. Since the pinion parts 33 and 34 are loose onthe shaft 24, but are held in stationary position by worm 40, it isevident that slippage will take place between collar 30 and hubs 3| and32 as the diameter of the cloth roll increases. Nevertheless, due to theslip clutch arrangement, the pressure between the sand roll and clothroll will remain substantially the same at all times. 7

In the drawing and specification, there has been set forth a preferredembodiment of the invention and although specific terms are employed,they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth inthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a loom having a cloth take-up roll and a sand roll for driving thecloth take-up roll, means for holding the cloth take-up roll against thesand roll comprising a pair of rack members for supporting the axis ofthe cloth take-up roll, a rotatable shaft having a pair of pinionsthereon for engagement with the rack members for pressing the take-uproll against the sand roll, a third pinion rotatably mounted on theshaft, a friction clutch connected to said third pinion, a resilientconnection between said clutch and the shaft, means for driving thethird pinion for moving the racks upwardly and for holding the pinionagainst uncontrolled rotation, the friction 3 clutch allowing the shaftto rotate relative to said third pinion when a predetermined pressurehas been created between the sand roll and the take-up roll due to theincrease in diameter of the take-up roll as the cloth is wound thereon.

2. In a loom having a sand roll driven by the loom, and also having anarbor on which a cloth take-up roll is formed, a pair of rack membersfor supporting the arbor, a shaft having a pair of pinions fixed thereonfor moving the rack members upwardly to hold the cloth on the arbor incontact With the sand roll, means for rotating the shaft comprising agear loosely mounted on the shaft, a worm meshing with the gear, a slipclutch associated With said gear a torsion spring disposed .on saidshaft and having one end secured to the slip-clutch and having its otherend adjustably secured on the shaft, whereby when a predeterminedpressure has been built up between the sand roll and the cloth take-uproll to force the rack members downwardly, rotation of the shaftrelative to the rotatably mounted pinion will be permitted. 3. In a loomhaving a rod on which cloth is rolled after it is woven, said loom alsohaving a driven sand roll for contacting the cloth on the rod forrolling the cloth on the rod, a pair of rack members for supporting theends of the rod, said loom also having a shaft provided with pinions forengaging the rack members for raising and lowering the rack members, asplit gear loosely mounted on said shaft, a worm meshing with said splitgear for driving the same, means clampingly engaging the split gear, atorsion spring disposed around said shaft and having one end secured tothe clamping means and having its other end adjustably secured to theshaft, whereby when undue pressure is created between the take-up rolland the sand roll, the shaft will be allowed to rotate relative to thesplit gear until the undue pressure is relieved.

WILLIAM H. BAHAN.

